Boom!
The ground caved into a crater.
Tenfold weight pressed on everything nearby.
Thankfully, everyone around—captains and captain-class zanpakuto manifestations—could bear it without being crushed.
But the suppressive force struck even those hiding in nothingness—like Muramasa within a heart-world.
Amid endless snow, Muramasa's face turned ugly.
He hadn't expected that, even while inside another's inner world, he could still be affected by a human's zanpakuto.
Fortunately, the pressure was bearable.
Before him stood Sode no Shirayuki, blade leveled, gaze as cold as the ice around them.
"Sode no Shirayuki, have you forgotten being oppressed by Shinigami—used at their whim?"
Muramasa still didn't want to give up on her.
The manifested blade before him was extremely strong; if she fought in earnest, she might even surpass Katen Kyokotsu.
A perfect one-time tool.
Conflict flickered in Sode no Shirayuki's eyes. She gritted her teeth. "I haven't forgotten. I've just found something… more interesting than revenge."
Muramasa's brows knit.
She still hated Shinigami—yet, somehow, she no longer clung to revenge.
Even bewitching her had become troublesome.
Outside—
Shunsui fought Katen Kyokotsu with everything he had, panting, "Cole, got any ideas?"
He wasn't the only one struggling. Kisuke was also fighting for his life: an entire arm nearly rebuilt beyond recognition, stitched over with irregular "parts."
As for Minazuki and Unohana, they had vanished behind a blood-red barrier—their duel surely raging.
"It works, but not well enough…" Cole's eyes were cold.
Muramasa wasn't in his heart-world; hitting him directly was hard.
Cole snapped his gaze to Kyoka Suigetsu, raised his right hand, and pressed his index and middle fingers together.
"Drag him out. I know you have a way. A blade like you—how could you ever truly trust another zanpakuto?"
Black-crimson radiance burst from his fingertips.
Sweat ran down Kyoka Suigetsu's face. He couldn't survive many more Cero. He clenched his teeth. "Fine!"
Whatever he did—
In the snowfield, Muramasa's eyes went glassy as his five senses were seized.
Sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch—deceived on all fronts, he walked out of the inner world on his own.
Shunsui gaped. "That's… Koga's zanpakuto being hypnotized by Kyoka Suigetsu!?"
He hadn't expected the blade that could bewitch other zanpakuto to stumble here.
Truly Aizen's zanpakuto—
unworthy in strength, perhaps, but unparalleled in intrigue.
In the heartbeat Shunsui's focus slipped, Katen sprang high and hacked down.
"Takaoni!"
In this "game," the higher you stand, the stronger you are.
Power spiked tenfold at once.
Blades clashed; Shunsui's face twisted, another gash tearing his shoulder.
He no longer dared to be distracted.
Cole said nothing more. He leveled two fingers at Muramasa and barked:
"Shirayuki, move!"
"Gran Rey Cero!"
Warned by Cole, Sode no Shirayuki darted aside.
Muramasa wasn't so lucky—black-crimson light swallowed his vision like a falling star.
"Kyoka Suigetsu!!!"
His roar broke under the thunderclap.
The rampaging beam wrapped him, black-crimson lightning crackling everywhere.
"Aaaaahhh!"
His screams split the sky.
Shinigami and zanpakuto alike watched it all.
Soi Fong murmured, "The one who could bewitch every one of our blades… is he really weaker than Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō?"
Within the glare, Cole saw it clearly—Muramasa's left arm, shoulder, and leg all blasted to pieces, as if to erase him entirely.
At the last instant, multiple captain-class manifested blades—already bewitched—threw themselves into the beam, forcing it back and wrenching Muramasa free.
Benihime planted herself before him and slashed into the earth—
"Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame (Opened-Red Princess Reconstruction)" bloomed.
The ground split—then surged like a tsunami, climbing hundreds of meters as black threads stitched it together—
becoming a mountain-high wall.
Kisuke, his left leg and left hand grotesquely "rebuilt," shouted,
"Careful, Cole! My Bankai reconstructs and remodels all organic and inorganic matter within its reiatsu field. That wall is packed with traps!"
Normally, a zanpakuto's power was a Shinigami's greatest secret—
Katen Kyokotsu, Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame, Jakuhō Raikōben (Wasp's Thunder Whip)… few knew their true natures.
But Kisuke couldn't care about secrecy now.
His proud blade had become one of their toughest enemies.
"A modded zanpakuto, huh. No wonder she hates your guts…" Cole scowled, gathering black-crimson power once more.
"Gran Rey Cero!!"
Another beam tore out.
Even reconstructed and stitched, the wall shattered like rotted wood before a king's flash.
A vast hole blew through, the blast threatening to erase everything beyond.
Seeing this, the half-dead Muramasa bellowed, "Sogyo no Kotowari!"
The twin-kid Sogyo no Kotowari—till now goofing off beside Tessai—chirped helplessly, then zipped before the oncoming Cero.
One blue child stretched his right hand to the beam; the other pointed at Cole.
In an instant, the raging black-crimson blast was absorbed by one—and released by the other—
even stronger than before.
"Bakudō #81: Danku (Severing Void)!"
A translucent barrier sprang up.
The rebounded Cero smashed into it—
The wall that could block kido below the nineties crazed with cracks, on the verge of breaking.
"My Cero might be a little too strong…"
Cole grumbled, cast another Danku, and finally held it back—barely.
Muramasa grit his teeth. "We're leaving. Now!"
His own combat power was far too low—nothing like Katen Kyokotsu's level.
If Cole targeted him, the culprit who'd freed all the blades might be broken beyond repair.
He shot Kyoka Suigetsu a hateful glare.
That bastard had slipped his hypnosis on Muramasa without a sound—nearly getting him killed.
Kyoka Suigetsu said nothing; his five-senses hypnosis flared as he bolted, using Cole's momentary inattention to flee.
Muramasa turned his head and roared, "Hyorinmaru!!!"
Within seconds, fine snow drifted from the sky.
Each flake that touched the ground birthed a mass of ice; those that landed on bodies froze them in place.
High above, blue-haired Hyorinmaru glided in, cold eyes sweeping the field as he covered the zanpakuto retreat.
"Do we give chase?" Rukia asked.
"Chase your own shadow," Cole snorted, shooting a look at Shunsui and Kisuke. "Look at us—wrecked and limping. Who can still fight?"
He wanted Muramasa's head—
but the enemy had too many blades, more than the captains on their side, and their abilities were absurd.
Especially Katen Kyokotsu and Sogyo no Kotowari—
the former's attacks were bizarre and varied, the latter could reflect all energy-type strikes.
Shunsui gave a wry smile. "It all happened too fast. No one expected our blades to betray us."
Soi Fong hobbled over, teeth clenched. "We wouldn't be this miserable, but add Kyoka Suigetsu into the mix and… different story."
Days earlier, they'd been stabbed in the back by their own blades—
then, under Kyoka Suigetsu's hypnosis, stabbed again.
Nearly every captain was badly wounded.
Now, except for that beast Kenpachi, their combat strength was gutted.
Kisuke sighed. "Let's find a place to patch up—and plan how to deal with those blades."
Benihime's strikes had stitched all sorts of junk into his right arm—and his left leg—
He looked half like a stone man.
They marched to Ninth Division, where a mass of Shinigami greeted them with relief.
Shunsui calmed them. "Most of Seireitei's Shinigami have been forced into three divisions."
Soi Fong added, "It's bad—many are injured from fighting their blades."
Cole nodded.
Half the Shinigami were bandaged head to toe—many barely clinging to life.
Tessai and Yoruichi rushed to heal with Kaidō, saving those at death's door first.
"Cole!" Ikkaku waved from the crowd, excited. "Did you see my—uh—blade?"
"Saw it. Didn't even get to Bankai—almost got filleted by Flower-sis."
Ikkaku smacked his bald head in despair.
He'd hidden his Bankai for years, and now others knew anyway.
Thankfully, they still didn't know what it did.
Yumichika opened his mouth—
Cole shot him a thumbs-up. "Beautiful blade—Ruri'iro Kujaku (Azure Peacock). He says you're a hideous brute—ugly inside and out. That true?"
Yumichika: "…"
They reached the only intact captain's office.
Kisuke looked pitifully at Orihime. "Miss Orihime, could you treat me?"
Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame reconstructed living bodies at the genetic level.
The stones stitched into him had been "accepted" as part of his body; even Kaidō struggled with that.
Orihime nodded quickly.
She'd been useless in the battle; now she could finally help.
Cole clicked his tongue. "Spend all day modding this and researching that—how's it feel being the test subject?"
Kisuke could only smile wryly.
"Sōten Kisshun (I Reject)!"
A pale yellow shield bloomed; the rebuilt portions of Kisuke began reverting at a speed visible to the eye.
Shunsui and the others brightened—and promptly formed a line, gazes pleading.
Their injuries were severe; ordinary Kaidō did little.
Soi Fong tried to line up too, but every step looked agony.
Cole couldn't stand it. He helped her to a chair, slipped off her shoe. "Here, I'll treat you."
"W-wait…"
Soi Fong flushed scarlet, trying to pull back her small right foot.
As a lily of the valley, she wasn't used to men touching her.
Green light spread under Cole's hands as he held her pale calf. He teased,
"Don't be so stiff. These hands massaged Lady Yoruichi, you know—counts as indirect contact with her."
"Lady Yoruichi…"
Soi Fong kicked his thigh, cheeks burning. "Idiot brat—those are still your hands!"
Even so, she stopped struggling.
As Cole healed, he asked, "Where's Toshiro?"
Faces turned odd.
Ukitake coughed and pointed at a room. "Captain Toshiro was badly wounded—stabbed several times. He can't walk."
Rukia blinked. "Who hurt Captain Toshiro that badly?"
Soi Fong exhaled a name. "Momo."
Cole's temples throbbed.
That girl Aizen had broken so thoroughly—what now?
Shunsui sighed. "Kyoka Suigetsu posed as Aizen and tricked her. She gave Toshiro… a few stabs."
Cole didn't need the rest spelled out.
Childhood friends—Toshiro's guard was down; of course he was gravely hurt.
"A bull's-horn right between the eyes…" Cole shook his head, then asked, "What about Byakuya? Don't tell me that jerk defected."
"How could he, Cole—" Rukia started—
Her brother valued honor more than life—he would never betray them.
Silence fell.
After a few seconds, Shunsui sighed.
"You're right. Byakuya really did defect. He's joined the zanpakuto."
(End of Chapter)
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